System automation generally requires the use of instruments that have a remote interface. For facilitating control of some instruments, manufacturers often build in support for remote command sets that are associated with controlling other instruments.
Traditionally, command emulation is managed by creating a command parser that supports all or nearly all of the command rules of the instrument being emulated. In this manner, the host instrument can respond and react to commands in the same way as the emulated instrument. However, the host instrument must obtain a new revision of software to support changes to the emulated instrument. Additionally, emulating a large number of alternate instruments consumes a significant amount of internal instrument memory in the host instrument and may adversely impact the performance of the host instrument in parsing standard native commands. Furthermore, a manufacturer of a host instrument may not be informed of changes to commands for the emulated instrument.